The SmarK DVD Rant for Spider-Man v. Doc Ock
– Ah, the Disney cash-in train just keeps on rolling down the track, as they dribble out episodes of the 94-98 animated Spider-Man series to coincide with the theatrical and DVD releases of the Spider-Man movies. Last time it was a Daredevil set (with 4 episodes, despite Daredevil only appearing in 2 episodes of the series) and now we get, naturally, Dr. Octopus-related material. And again, he wasn’t in the series much, so it’s pretty thin, Ock-wise. But I’m a fan of the series and I’m just glad to see it on DVD, slowly such as it is, so I’m not gonna complain too much.
The Film
As noted, this and the previous releases from Disney are 4-episode compilations from the Fox animated series in the 90s, which was one of the first forays into computer animation for the mainstream market. The show itself is traditional cel animation, but the backgrounds are computer-animated, giving it a neat hybrid look. The shows tend to be smartly written and with good dialogue, although the G-rated nature means that guns are all laser-pistols with poor aim and people are “destroyed” rather than “killed”. But you can generally figure out what is really meant underneath the goofy code-words anyway, so no biggie. This set in particular features the first appearance of Doc Ock in the series, as well as three episodes from the “Partners in Danger” story arc. Of course, much of those episodes focus on Black Cat rather than Doc Ock, but such is life when they won’t just release a season set and get it over with. The episodes included are as follows
– “Doctor Octopus: Armed and Dangerous”. This is, as noted, the first appearance of Doc Ock in the series, and it has the rough approximation of the origin from the second Spider-Man movie: Science-loving Otto Octavius pursues cold fusion, but runs out of money and finds his lab blowing up, thus welding his steel arms to his spine and turning him into a crazed supervillain. In this case, his solution is to kidnap Felicia Hardy, and then J. Jonah Jameson (after getting into an on-air argument with him over ransom money), leaving Spider-Man to once again save the day. His feelings (as Peter Parker) for Felicia cloud his judgment a bit, but in the end he outsmarts the bad guy and JJJ is still ungrateful.
– “The Cat”. Skipping ahead to the second season, Spidey is mired in one his periodic self-loathing sessions because Mary Jane has disappeared (one of those “why didn’t they take 5 seconds to edit out that line” moments for the DVD) and goes to Felicia for a shoulder to cry on. However, she has problems of her own, as Doc Ock has escaped prison and is blackmailing her wealthy mother with information on John Hardesky, the notorious burglar known as “The Cat” (how original, I know). Turns out Hardesky is actually Felicia Hardy’s father, and Spider-Man tries to enlist the help of SHIELD for information, but it turns into a big brawl (as it often does in Marvel’s world), thus forcing him to steal the information. Turns out Hardesky stole the “super soldier” formula from the US government during World War II, but refuses to tell anyone. Well, a little torture from the Kingpin changes THAT tune pretty quickly
– “The Black Cat”. Hardesky gives up the info, and Felicia Hardy begins a new career as the Black Cat, a genetically-enhanced (in more ways than one GROWL) super-thief who is also hot to trot with Spider-Man. However, she escapes the Kingpin’s fortress and enlists his help to rescue her father, leaving them to fend off the forces of both Kingpin and meddling agency SHIELD. In the end, Spider-Man is all depressed again. As usual. Octopus appears for all of 10 seconds in this one.
– “Partners”. Skipping ahead a couple of episodes, this one sees Spider-Man falling in love with the Black Cat, and then needing her as a partner in crime-fighting when the villainous uh toddler Silvermane (shown in a flashback reverting back to baby-age) uses equally villainous mad scientist Alistair Smythe to hunt down Spider-Man and Black Cat for use in his “neogenics” experiments. In this case, he needs either Scorpion or Vulture to use as test subjects to change Silvermane back into a grown man again. Anyway, the whole thing is an excuse for a big fight scene in the laboratory, as Scorpion’s attempts to go straight are foiled by his basic asshole nature and all the bad guys get away again. Doc Ock isn’t even mentioned in this one, making the inclusion all the stranger. It’s a pretty fun episode, however, especially Silvermane’s line at the end about still needing diapers even after being changed back.
And that’s it. Not exactly the most well-picked group of episodes from the series, as most of them are pretty bland fight scenes, although overall the show was always fast-paced and fun, and the interesting double love-story between Spider-Man, Black Cat, Peter Parker and Felicia Hardy was done well much of the time, too. Probably one of the weaker of the Spider-Man sets, but the Venom Saga comes out in November, so hopefully they’ll pick the RIGHT episodes there.
The Video:
Looking about as good as it’s gonna good here a nice clean transfer direct from the original masters, as colors are very bright (as is fitting for a cartoon) and there’s no apparent grain or damage. It’s TV, so it’s obviously full-frame.
The Audio:
Again, just a dump of the original broadcast stereo, so it’s good ol’ Dolby Digital 2.0, and a good-sounding 2.0 at that. The stereo is used to fullest advantage as befitting an action-oriented cartoon.
The Extras:
As usual with these discs, you get two bonus episodes and Stan Lee’s soapbox.
First up, it’s the Doc Ock episode from the 1967 series, as he lures Spider-Man into his cave lab and they do battle for a bit before Spider-Man wins. Then, in one of the more bizarre turns for the series, ice monsters from Pluto land in New York and start freezing everything, but it turns out that they just need the aptly-named Dr. Smarter to help them fix their wrap drive and leave again. Uh, YEAH. Well, it WAS the sixties.
You also get a 3 minute preview of the Venom Saga (in Dolby 5.1!) which is pretty much the best story arc from the animated series, complete with a better origin for Venom than the comics came up with. That’s about it, extras-wise.
The Ratings:
The Film: ***
The Video: **1/2
The Audio: ***
The Extras: **
